Step 1

Open a document in Photoshop, 2200px wide & 3500px tall. This is simply for the poster-like ratio, if your computer can’t handle a document this size, simply scale it down.

Fill the document with a simple gradient, I used light blue/ light purple, but any cooling colours will do the trick:

Step 2

If you don’t have an installation of Cinema 4D, skip this part of the tutorial.

Open a bubble stock from the pack, and place it so it covers your entire background. Set the Opacity of the bubble layer to 80%. This allows the gradient to show through and add some variety to the stock.The fun part. Let’s dive into some 3D. Open Cinema 4D.

Once Cinema 4D is open, add a simple Tube object. Highlight the tube object and press “C” to make it editable.

Use the left sidebar to view it in polygon mode: (Fig 1)

Fill the document with a simple gradient, I used light blue/ light purple, but any cooling colours will do the trick.

Use the live selection tool to highlight every polygon: (Fig 2)

Extrude your object, click and drag your cursor around until it looks like this:

This is a great starting point, and from here, the shape of the render is up to you.

Start adding deformers and really mess with the parameters.

When you’re happy with the shape of your render, group your Tube and Deformers into a Null Object, and add that Null into a HyperNURBS object, like so:

Here’s an idea of what your shape could look like:

This is when your shape will really start to take form.

Start duplicating you HyperNURBS group and moving, resizing and rotating them. Start to build out your render and make it interesting:

The form of your render doesn’t matter, just make it exciting.

Now let’s get started on the material. Here’s mine:

For your render settings:

Make sure Global Illumination is checked on and GI mode is set to IR + QMC (Still Image)

Turn on Anti Aliasing and set Geometry to BEST, and set both minimum and maximum to 4×4

In the Save tab, check on Alpha Channel and Straight Alpha

When all of this is done, render the scene in the size of your PSD as a PNG file at 16bit.

Remember, the shape of your render does not matter at all, and if you can’t get the 3d segment right, DON’T WORRY, I have included my render in the downloads.

For more experienced Cinema 4D users, feel free to go crazy with more complicated lighting materials and shapes.

Step 3

Now back to Photoshop!

Place your render in the center and make it large:

We’re going to add some detail to the render.

On a new layer above the render, start picking out some interesting points in your render and paint over them with a soft white brush and set the blending mode to Overlay. This will help the coolest parts of the render pop.

My name is James and I have been using Photoshop since version 5.0 (long time ago!). I am the Digital Media Manager for a local mid-size wholesale business, where I use Photoshop almost every day. PSD Vault is my spare time hobby and I write majority of the Photoshop tutorials and articles here. I hope you enjoy my blog, and feel free to leave a comment or contact me if you have any questions.

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In operation since 2008, PSD Vault (www.psdvault.com) focuses on providing high quality, step-by-step Photoshop tutorials and digital art showcase to all Photoshop lovers and hobbyists around the world.